Co-op Commander Guide: Karax

Co-op Commander Guide: Karax

Overview

Karax, the Khalai Phase-Smith, commands the powerful Spear of Adun arkship as well as a wide array of mechanical units and structures. The Spear of Adun abilities at his disposal are capable of raining death down upon Amon’s forces while aiding your own. Above all else, Karax is known for his stalwart defense, but do not doubt his potential for offense. Though any player will be able to employ his defensive playstyle, mastering Karax requires being flexible and at times leading the charge into battle.

Strengths

Omnipresent Spear of Adun: Karax has a myriad of abilities that can strike down enemy units and objectives across the entire map. If used efficiently, these abilities can almost single-handedly take down every enemy wave on their own. This is especially useful when facing mutators such as Void Rifts or Reanimators, where you have to quickly take out key units spread across the map.

Strong Static Defense: Karax is the epitome of a strong defense. With Photon Cannons, Shield Batteries, Khaydarin Monoliths, Energizers and the Spear of Adun, Karax can create an indomitable defense that can indefinitely hold back most enemy waves you will encounter in the game, provided that you set up the defense effectively.

Vast Array of Support Abilities: Karax has a plethora of supportive abilities, including global repairs for allied mech units and structures, a Chrono Field passive and Chrono Wave ability that boost the production of all allied structures, as well as the Unity Barrier, which protects all friendly units.

Weaknesses

Weak Offensive Capabilities: Without his Unit Cost Reduction mastery, Karax’s units are mostly overpriced with the 50% unit cost penalty. Even with Unit Cost Reduction mastery (up to -30% unit cost), his units are often not as efficient as those of other commanders. Additionally, he has a fairly substantial ramp-up time due to his heavy reliance on gas for an army-oriented build. As such, Karax is often seen as a defensive and supportive commander, rather than one known for his offensive capabilities.

Suggested Unit Compositions

The bread and butter of Karax’s playstyle, a strong static defense setup is the most common Karax build, especially for mutations where a strong defense is required. While this is a solid way to play Karax in purely defensive missions such as Temple of the Past and Oblivion Express, there are often better options that allow players to contribute more effectively on missions with offensive components.

Mass Carrier:

Mass Carrier is Karax’s most robust and powerful end-game composition. It has few weaknesses in battle and will slowly and steadily win you the game. However, the extremely slow ramp-up time is a huge hindrance due to the heavy gas cost and high tech requirements of the Carrier. Photon Cannons are usually your mineral dump of choice with this composition, but the more mobile Sentinels can also work in some situations. This allows your Carriers to move ahead to clear the base defenses while the Cannons/Sentinels move in to clean up the remaining structures and high-HP objectives. A single Energizer should be added to the fleet of Carriers to boost their effectiveness, but you will need to carefully micro and place it out of range of enemy attackers.

Mass Immortal:

Karax’s basic ground composition relies on the resilience and pushing power of the Immortal. Immortals should be built off of two Robotics Facilities and will make up the brunt of your army. This composition is best used when the enemy air defenders on the map are relatively low-tech, for example on The Vermillion Problem or Malwarfare. A fast Robotics Bay should be built in order to open up Shadow Cannon tech, which will serve as your main form of anti-air. Energizers should be added to this composition very sparingly, in just enough numbers to provide consistent Chrono Beam support.

Sentinel/Immortal/Energizer:

Unlike the previous composition that relies on a backbone of Immortals, this composition revolves around the strength and utility of the Energizer’s Reclamation ability. Reclamation should be researched and used to take control of powerful mechanical units from Terran and Protoss enemies. This composition is superior to the Mass Immortal composition against Terran and Protoss on maps where the enemy air defenders are relatively high-tech early on, for example, on Lock & Load, Mist Opportunities, Rifts to Korhal, or Void Thrashing.

Both Sentinels and Immortals are great at tanking and dealing damage, but they are much more limited when faced with air units - but that’s where Energizers shine, being able to Reclaim the most dangerous units in the enemy’s arsenal. Focus on building up your Energizer count early on, researching both the Energizer and Sentinel upgrades. As the game goes on, add Immortals to your army, as they add valuable DPS to your army with their ranged attacks and bonus damage to armored units, which prove especially useful against many of the mission objectives in the game. Shadow Cannon is usually not necessary with this composition as the combination of Reclamation and your Spear of Adun can handle most enemy air threats.

Immortal/Colossus:

Colossi have a niche of being excellent against Infested. Thusly, this composition is specifically intended to be used on Dead of Night and Miner Evacuation. Immortals are added in to protect the vulnerable Colossi against high-HP armored units like Aberrations and Hybrids. Supported by static defenses, this combination of units is able to both hold the fort and push into enemy territory when the time calls for it. As with all other compositions, a few Energizers should be added as necessary.

Mirage/Sentinel:

What this composition lacks in brute strength it makes up for in mobility. When used correctly, a Mirage fleet can clean up multiple enemy waves without taking any losses. They’re also able to quickly respond to any unexpected threats, as their movespeed is among the highest in the game. While they may struggle against certain AoE effects and against heavily armored units, the Spear of Adun is capable of taking potential threats out before they become a problem. However, this is never the most powerful composition and should be used very specifically for situations that require high mobility or when you do not require much DPS against ground-based objectives.

General Tips

If you’re opting for an army-based build, it’s often not efficient to upgrade your Solar Forge’s Solar Efficiency past level 1 or 2, or research any of the other upgrades. These upgrades cost a lot of valuable gas and often times don’t pay off for themselves by the end of the game. Look to omit unnecessary upgrades, as any unit-based Karax build requires a lot of gas for his army. Carrier’s Repair Drone and Armor/Shield upgrades are usually unnecessary as you already have the Repair Beam constantly healing your units.

For a defense-based build, more gas is likely available for upgrading Solar Forge. Up to Solar Efficiency level 2 can be researched, in order to support your defensive structures with much needed AOE firepower. Level 3 can be skipped, as it requires a Robotics Bay or Fleet Beacon, which you will normally not build. Advanced Repair Systems upgrade is optional, but it can be useful against compositions with heavy splash damage. On the other hand, both the Phase Detonation and Solar Flare upgrades are rarely useful due to the burst damage nature of the Orbital Strike and Solar Lance, which leave few enemy units alive. Also, the 3 structure-related upgrades from Forge and Rapid Recharging upgrade from Twilight Council should be obtained in order to enhance the prowess of your structures.

While hotkeying Top Bar abilities is useful for every commander, Karax sees even more mileage out of an efficient set of hotkeys. Actively using Orbital Strike and Solar Lance is key to playing Karax well, especially if you have a sufficient reserve of energy on hand. Such abilities are a great boost in covering for the deficiencies faced by Karax’s various builds—the long ramp-up time of Mass Carrier, the lack of anti-air firepower from Sentinel/Immortal/Energizer, as well as the lack of AOE damage from Static Defense.

Avoid using abilities on objectives, lone Hybrids, or non-defensive structures. It’s much more efficient to have your ally kill it than to burn 50 energy on a single unit or structure.

Judging by these numbers, the Solar Efficiency level 1 upgrade is certainly worth it, as it more than doubles the Spear of Adun’s energy regeneration rate. However, subsequent upgrades give diminishing returns while costing much more resources and having additional tech requirements and increased research time.

Orbital Strike

5 energy, no cooldown

Karax’s basic ability. Deals 50 (100 vs armored) AoE damage. Use it liberally to remove key enemy units from any battle anywhere on the map, such as Siege Tanks and Reavers, in support of your or ally’s armies. More useful against the early waves, where Solar Lance can be an overkill, or when Solar Lance is on cooldown.

Solar Lance

50 energy, 120 second cooldown

Deals 200 damage to all enemies in a line, with three consecutive casts. This is your primary tool to deal with approaching enemy attack waves. Past the first or second wave, using Solar Lance is usually more energy efficient than spamming Orbital Strikes as these waves tend to clump up, setting themselves up for potentially devastating damage from a Solar Lance. Be aware of how many Orbital Strikes you generally use on enemy waves and whether it would have been more efficient to unleash a Solar Lance instead.

Chrono Wave

240 second cooldown

Provides a 500% production boost to all structures for 20 seconds. Very helpful for a variety of purposes, including saturating your natural with workers, getting upgrades and units out much earlier. With 30 mastery points in Chrono Wave Energy Generation, it is useful to cast Chrono Wave as frequently as possible for the extra energy. As this ability is often very beneficial to your ally as well, it will be useful to inform your ally a few seconds before casting it.

Purifier Beam

450 second cooldown

Summons a controllable Purifier Beam at the targeted location, which lasts 15 seconds. Deals 750 (+750 vs armored) damage spread out over the course of its duration to all enemies caught in its path - equivalent to 50 (+50 vs armored) per second. Due to its long cooldown, it’s recommended to use it prudently against dangerous waves or heavily-fortified bases. Control it to focus on the dangerous units instead of structures. Ideally, wait for an attack wave to arrive near a fortification, then use it to clear both the wave and the defending units.

Units and Buildings

Sentinel

13.33 DPS at 0/0

Karax’s frontline tank unit and a great mineral dump option. Extremely good at absorbing damage, especially in combination with the Unity Barrier passive, Reconstruction Beam’s healing and the revival granted by its Reconstruction upgrade. However, they are best supported by ranged units such as Immortals instead of massing even more Sentinels, as excessive numbers of melee units block them from engaging enemies in battle.

Energizer

6.00 DPS

Karax’s support spellcaster, and the most impactful unit in his army regardless of what build you are going for. Position your Energizers near friendly units and structures in order to Chrono Beam them, increasing their attack and movement speeds by 25% and 50% respectively. As such, your ally will greatly appreciate a few Energizers following their army. Notably, Energizer is often prioritized by the enemy units due to its abilities and ground-to-air attack. Its phasing mode can be very useful in reducing this attack priority as well as allowing Gateway units to be warped in easily. Units under Reclamation’s effect don’t gain the chrono beam buff; but can cast any ability it has, including powerful ones like Yamato Cannon or Seeker Missile.

Immortal

13.79 (34.48 vs armored) DPS

Karax’s heavy anti-armor unit. Can be upgraded with the Shadow Cannon ability, which deals 200 damage over 2 seconds to any target within 13 range, on a 45 second cooldown. Shadow Cannon can be used to soften up enemy defenses from a distance, take out dangerous air units, or rapidly annihilate map objectives. However, the Shadow Cannon upgrade is not essential to research early-on, when it is often better to build more units instead, as extra gas is required for the expensive Robotics Bay as well.

Colossus

18.18 DPS

Karax’s sustained AoE unit. Can be upgraded with increased range and to set the ground on fire with every attack dealing 100 damage over 5 seconds to enemy units caught in the fire. Having good spacing on these combined with their long range allows them to light huge tracts of land on fire. However, a Colossus is an expensive unit to build and tech-up to, while resulting in minimal impact on the battlefield. Most enemy units with low HP can easily be cleared by Orbital Strike or Solar Lance, while the dangerous and armored units are better handled by Immortals, leaving the role of Colossus redundant in Karax’s army except against massive number of Infested units.

Observer

Standard Protoss detection unit. A particularly useful investment for Karax, as you can spread them out across the map to provide vision for your Spear of Adun. When deployed in Surveillance Mode it gains far more vision radius—use it to your advantage to obliterate enemy units with Orbital Strike or Solar Lance prior to engagement, or to allow Khaydarin Monoliths to attack at maximum range. However, the detection is somewhat redundant in Karax’s kit as he has no problem building Photon Cannons as needed or sniping hidden units with the Spear of Adun.

Mirage

9.09 (18.18 vs light) DPS

Karax’s air superiority fighter. Can be upgraded to outrange certain anti-air units and Phasing Armor grants the Mirage 2 seconds of invincibility whenever the Mirage is struck, albeit on a 5 second cooldown. Combined with the Reconstruction Beam, this makes it a very resilient target as enemies will prefer to switch targets whenever a Mirage gains invulnerability, allowing a fleet of Mirages to cycle between their Phasing Armor cooldowns to spread out their damage intake. However, the Mirage is seldom used in Karax’s army due to its lack of anti-armored damage and its inability to attack structures. In any conventional situation, Carriers have superior DPS per gas spent. Mirages may prove useful in certain niche mutations, however.

Carrier

26.67 DPS

Karax’s capital ship. Mass Carrier with Energizer support makes for Karax’s most powerful army should it reach its highest potential. With the notable exceptions of Scourge and Vipers, Carriers generally have no weaknesses in battle. However, they take a long time to amass even with full mastery points put into Unit Cost Reduction. Upon research, each Repair Drone will repair nearby mechanical units for 8 health per second - including Interceptors - but this upgrade is usually made redundant by the Reconstruction Beam which already repairs Carriers for free. During battle, look to pull back any Carrier under heavy fire from the enemy, so that your Carriers take turns absorbing enemy fire before rotating out to regenerate health and shields.

Photon Cannon

21.33 DPS

Standard Protoss defensive structure. Unlike normal Protoss Photon Cannons, these warp in instantly, allowing you to set up defenses at key locations within seconds. They can also employ upgrades from the Forge that improve their range and attack speed. However, you should research them only if you are aiming to rely on static defense as your primary strategy. Photon Cannons can also be used offensively by using a Probe to warp them in while your army engages the enemy base defenses.

Khaydarin Monolith

41.44 DPS

Karax’s secondary defensive structure. Khaydarin Monoliths possess high burst damage and a long range, but have a long cooldown period between shots. Useful against high-HP, heavily armored foes and as a measure to prevent enemies from laying siege to your defenses, especially when paired with an Observer in Surveillance Mode to provide long-range vision. Shares upgrades with the Photon Cannon, giving them an even longer range and a boost to attack speed. While unnecessary in a unit-oriented build due to their gas costs, Khaydarin Monoliths should be built behind Photon Cannons for a defense-oriented build in order to provide complementary long-ranged firepower.

Shield Battery

A structure that automatically recharges the shields of nearby Protoss units and structures. Their researchable Fortification Barrier autocasts a Barrier on any nearby structure that comes under attack, absorbing up to 100 damage and lasting 10 seconds at the cost of 15 energy and having a cooldown of 30 seconds. Taken together, these two abilities abilities make nearby static defenses extremely durable, especially when paired with the Reconstruction Beam kicking in once a structure takes HP damage. Shield Batteries should be built in front of other defensive structures, as they have higher HP than Photon Cannons while costing fewer minerals. As Shield Batteries have lower target priority than Photon Cannons, enemy units will attempt to bypass the Shield Batteries and attack the Photon Cannons first. You can use this to your advantage by leaving small gaps in the wall of Shield Batteries—this will confuse melee units, especially Banelings.

In-depth

Build Order

Karax should try to expand as early as possible by taking advantage of the Spear of Adun Energy mastery to destroy expansion Rocks or enemy defenses with Spear of Adun abilities. If you do not have access to enough mastery points to pull this off, you can still use your instant warp-in Photon Cannons to clear out Rocks or enemy defenses. Securing an early expansion is absolutely critical as Karax requires a lot of resources to get started. The following builds are recommended on maps where your natural is blocked by Rocks. For all other maps, refer to the map-specific section and the attached replays. The first two build orders assume 30/0 in Spear of Adun Energy mastery.

Build Order #1: Carrier/Static Defense Opening

- Use 20 Orbitial Strike to destroy your expansion's Rocks

15 Nexus

15 Pylon (at Rocks)

17 Assimilator

18 Assimilator

20 Forge

26 Photon Cannon

32 Photon Cannon

36 Gateway

37 Assimilator

38 Pylon

40 Assimilator

46 Pylon

Build Order #2: Sentinel Opening

- Use 20 Orbitial Strike to destroy your expansion's Rocks

15 Nexus

15 Pylon (at Rocks)

17 Assimilator

18 Assimilator

20 Gateway

28 Sentinel (Chrono Boost Gateway)

- Use excess Spear of Adun Energy on gas Rocks.

32 Cybernetics Core

33 Sentinel (Chrono Boost Nexus after Sentinel is done)

37 Pylon

40 Assimilator

44 Pylon

46 Assimilator

Build Order #3: Two Cannon Opening (Use if you don't have 90 Mastery points)

15 Pylon (at Rocks)

15 Forge

19 Photon Cannon

20 Photon Cannon

21 Assimilator

22 Assimilator

23 Nexus

23 Pylon

26 Gateway

28 Assimilator

28 Assimilator

32 Cybernetics Core

34 Pylon

Masteries

Power Set 1:

Combat Unit Resource Cost (-1% - -30%)

Structure Life and Shields (+2% - +60%)

Both of these masteries change Karax’s game in impactful ways. Structure Life and Shields is useful when you plan to play extremely defensively and rely on static defense as your primary strategy, which can be viable on defensive maps and certain mutations. However, Combat Unit Resource Cost is better in most situations, and absolutely essential for executing an army-based build effectively, and hence much more versatile. Where a defense-based build can be counted upon only in a defensive situation, an army-based build can be effective both offensively and defensively.

Power Set 2

Repair Beam Healing Rate: (+1% - +30%)

Chrono Wave Energy Generation (+1 - +30)

Though neither mastery is greatly impactful, they both have their uses. Chrono Wave Energy Generation allows you to save resources on Solar Efficiency upgrades, and is often the superior choice for a mass Carrier composition, as Repair Beam Healing Rate is less useful for the highly resilient Carriers. Meanwhile, a ground army-based army build appreciates Repair Beam Healing Rate more than the extra energy due to the extra damage absorbed by the ground units. Finally, a static defense build can better afford the gas for Solar Efficiency upgrades, making the Chrono Wave Energy Generation less of a relative improvement. It is worth noting that the base healing provided by the Reconstruction Beam is 5 per second, increasing to 10 on structures and affecting up to three targets at once, with the Solar Forge containing an upgrade that increases it to four targets.

Power Set 3:

Chrono Boost Efficiency (+1% - +30%)

Initial and Maximum Spear of Adun Energy: (+3 - +90)

Initial and Maximum Spear of Adun Energy significantly increases Karax’s early game power. This energy can be spent in many different ways, but most notably giving Karax the fastest possible expansion of any commander on most maps. Should you research multiple Solar Efficiency upgrades, being able to store an extra 90 energy can allow you more freedom to bank your energy, and can provide you with extra burst damage which you may need in the late game. Max mastery in Chrono Boost Efficiency has niche uses, however, such as on Dead of Night where Spear of Adun energy is less impactful as you cannot expand.

Synergies

Karax has multiple synergies across all commanders thanks to his role as a support-heavy defense specialist. He is able to significantly boost production with both his passive Chrono Field and his active Chrono Wave, as well as being able to rapidly take out dangerous enemy units that counter your ally’s army with Orbital Strike or Solar Lance.

Raynor

Raynor greatly appreciates Unity Barrier, which can allow his bio forces to shrug off a high damage hit that would otherwise kill them. Also, Karax can snipe dangerous AoE units with his Spear of Adun abilities to prevent them from dealing devastating damage to Raynor’s army. An interesting strategy to note is that Raynor can easily provide vision for Karax with the use of drop pods, Scan or Hyperion Warp, so that Karax can instantly kill dangerous units or structures (such as Void Rifts).

Kerrigan

Kerrigan’s weakness vs air can be somewhat mitigated by the Spear of Adun. Also, Unity Barrier is very useful for Kerrigan’s Hydralisks and Zerglings. Karax greatly appreciates the vespene gas collected from Assimilation Aura.

Artanis

Karax provides a stellar fallback for Artanis, who is lacking in defensive options. The combination of Reconstruction Beam, Unity Barrier, and Guardian Shell also turn both of their units into nigh-unkillable juggernauts.

Swann

Reconstruction Beam provides Swann’s army and structures with additional repairs. Karax’s powerful top bar abilities can cover for Swann’s small army at the start of the mission, and his Chrono abilities help Swann get his otherwise slow production going quicker. Swann’s Vespene Harvesters are greatly appreciated by Karax whose units and upgrades are heavily dependent on gas. While they can work together to build the most formidable static defenses in the game, they may have a tough time dealing with situations that call for an offensive.

Zagara

Karax’s Unity Barrier offers Zagara’s units a lot of extra survivability. Also, his Chrono abilities on Zagara’s Baneling Nest significantly increases the production of free Banelings. Additionally, they pair well together as a typical offensive-defensive pairing, allowing them to cover for each other’s major weakness. In a defensive map, Zagara can morph Bile Launchers behind Karax’s defenses to provide much needed AoE damage to supplement his static defenses, which in turn are able to shield the feeble Bile Launchers from harm.

Vorazun

Orbital Strike and Black Hole synergize well together by allowing you to deal an impressive amount of damage to a clumped up enemy wave, but this requires coordination. At the same time, Karax’s Reconstruction Beam is able to heal Vorazun’s mechanical units. Also, a defense-based Karax could possibly spare one gas geyser for Vorazun, who appreciates the extra resources. Generous usage of Time Stop and Chrono Wave has a devastating cumulative effect over the course of a game.

Abathur

As a commander with great base-pushing abilities, Abathur is able to provide much needed offensive prowess for Karax. Otherwise, they do not have much synergy.

Alarak

As Alarak is lacking mobility with his slow-moving army, he greatly appreciates Karax’s global and defensive abilities. He can also Overcharge Karax’s structures to provide a DPS boost whenever needed.

Nova

Chrono Boost, Field and Wave all significantly reduce Nova’s production cooldowns, allowing her far more freedom in choosing her preferred army composition. Also, a defense-based Karax could possibly spare one gas geyser for Nova, who appreciates the extra resources. Griffin Airlift can quickly relocate Karax’s immobile army. Try to coordinate use of Griffin Airstrike with Karax’s Spear of Adun abilities to avoid wasting minerals or energy.

Stukov

Orbital Strike can take out dangerous enemy units with splash damage that might threaten Stukov’s army. Also, Reconstruction Beam assists Infested Bunkers to recover at an even faster rate. Contrary to popular perception, Chrono abilities do not have any significant effect on the spawn timer of Stukov’s Infested Compound, but they are still an immense help in boosting his research time. Chrono Boost the Infested Compound only when it is researching upgrades.

Fenix

Reconstruction Beam and Unity Barrier are appreciated by Fenix’s army and Karax’s Chrono abilities help in simplifying Fenix’s macro concerns. Fenix can reposition Karax’s slow army (if he has one) via the Cybros Arbiter.

Dehaka

Karax is able to help Dehaka level up faster during the early game by taking out the dangerous units such as Siege Tanks that will otherwise threaten him. Dehaka will also appreciate Chrono Boost on Murvar’s Den in order to research critical upgrades for his air units faster.

Map-Specific Tips

Chain of Ascension

Immediately send a Probe to your expansion and use Solar Lance to annihilate the defenders there. Clean up any remaining units and buildings with Orbital Strike and warp in a Nexus as your first structure.

You can invest in some Photon Cannons to defend the 2 ramps at the sides as well as along Ji’nara’s path. However, do not overinvest in static defense, as it is better to build a strong army to push into bases as well as for dealing with Hybrid spawns. Look to support your Photon Cannons with Orbital Strikes against weak attack waves or Solar Lance against strong attack waves. Doing so allows your less-mobile army to continue pushing into objectives instead of calling them back to defend your base.

Try to reserve either Solar Lance or Purifier Beam for each of the Hybrid spawns—both of these abilities are highly effective against the heavily clumped-up units that spawn with them.

Slayn Elementals are handled most effectively by Carriers. Constantly keep the Carriers on the move while the Interceptors attack automatically to prevent the Carriers from being trapped in the Elemental’s Cocoons. If your Interceptors are being targeted, you can repeatedly use the Stop command to return them to your Carriers until it is safe again. Alternatively, you can use the Immortal’s Shadow Cannon to rapidly deal damage to them, although this will require a high amount of Immortals to work.

Dead of Night

Defend during the Night using Photon Cannons, Shield Batteries, Energizers and your army. You can add Khaydarin Monoliths to provide long-range firepower, but they take away precious gas from your army, rendering you much less useful during the Day.

Mass Carriers can work well for both defensive and offensive gameplay. However, it is difficult to build a significant number of Carriers to contribute effectively during the Day, as there are only three gas extractors available for each player on this map.

On the other hand, you can rely on Shield Battery/Photon Cannon/Immortal/Colossus/Energizer for defending at Night, which allows you to contribute more effectively in clearing Infested Structures during the Day. Look to push into enemy bases with your Immortal/Colossus/Energizer army and clean up buildings using your Sentinels and one or two Energizers, while the rest of your army marches onwards.

Use your Spear of Adun abilities liberally during the Day to take out enemy defenses in your way to clear the path for your army. Use it sparingly during the Night and only if you are at risk of losing structures or units.

Lock & Load

Use Solar Lance to destroy enemy defenses at the western Celestial Lock, as this Lock features multiple cloaked units if you are facing Protoss or Zerg. Taking them out early on with your Spear of Adun allows you to forego having to rush detection (though you may still want Observers later). These cloaked enemies are very spread out, so Orbital Strike is less effective than Solar Lance, provided that you can hit a good number of the enemies with your Solar Lance.

Build a few Photon Cannons at each Celestial Lock after you capture them in order to defend against trickling enemies trying to recapture the Celestial Locks. When attack waves arrive, be ready to support your defenses with Orbital Strike, Solar Lance, or your army.

Use your Purifier Beam to clear out the defenses at the northern and eastern Celestial Locks as these are the most heavily fortified areas.

There are many air units guarding the northern and eastern Celestial Locks. If you are planning to Reclaim Terran or Protoss mechanical units, make sure you have enough Energizers before pushing into these defenses.

Malwarfare

Assuming max mastery in Spear of Adun energy, immediately send a Probe to your expansion to clear it out with Solar Lance and Orbital Strike. Proceed to warp in a Nexus as your first structure.

Warp in Pylons or pre-place Observers near each Suppression Tower to allow you to use your Spear of Adun powers on enemy forces as they arrive.

While helpful at any time, it is especially important to warp in static defenses when you reach the final Security Terminal. Set up a solid defense at each of the five potential Suppression Tower spawn points and support your Photon Cannons with Energizers and your Spear of Adun powers. Despite the hefty resource cost necessary to employ this method, the ability to spot and attack units that are in the process of warping in is well worth the cost.

Miner Evacuation

Use a combination of your Spear of Adun and about eight Photon Cannons to defend the first Evacuation Ship. If the first Evacuation Ship spawns at your expansion, you can sneak your probe in from the right ramp, bypassing the Infested units defending the left ramp. Gradually creep your Photon Cannons forward in order to take out enemy defenses and claim your expansion.During the first Evacuation Ship launch, a total of three Nydus Worms will spawn. Use four Orbital Strikes on each of these Worms in order to cut off enemy reinforcements.

Though Colossi might be a tempting choice on this map, Carriers are the ideal unit choice due to their invincibility against Volatile Infested, Aberrations and Infested Banshees as well as for their ease in taking down the bonus objectives.

Build Shield Batteries and Photon Cannons to defend each Evacuation Ship before you launch it, especially when going for a mass Carrier army that will be lacking in ground presence. Support each defensive position with at least one Energizer placed in Phasing mode.

A single cast of Solar Lance is usually enough to deal with any wave headed for your expansion. If you can take advantage of this, it will allow you to bypass having to build static defenses to defend your expansion.

Mist Opportunites

After clearing the areas in front of the Terrazine Extraction Devices, warp in one Pylon and one Photon Cannon or a single Sentinel to attack it. The bonus objective countdown timer will pause for as long as you are attacking it—you do not need to use your entire army to destroy it. The rest of your army can move on to the next objective.

Look to build clusters of static defense at strategic choke points, but do not overinvest in static defense, as you will still require a strong army to clear out enemy bases unless you have a competent offensive ally.

The attack waves heading for each Harvesting Bot are frequent but weak in strength. Orbital Strike can be effective here in taking out weak waves that are out of reach of your army or static defense. Solar Lance can be used to take out multiple waves over a longer period, but that means you may be in targeting mode for some time while waiting for the next wave to spawn. You may also reserve Solar Lance for the infrequent but larger enemy waves containing Hybrids.

Use Purifier Beam on heavily fortified bases or the dangerous attack waves headed for your base (as opposed to the small attack waves headed for the Harvesting Bots).

Oblivion Express

The left expansion is ideal for Karax as when breaking Rocks with Orbital Strike, you can aim each cast in between the main and gas Rocks. This allows you to break all 3 Rocks with just 20 casts of Orbital Strike.

Unlike other maps, mass Carrier build does not work well here as Carriers lack the damage output to deal with both the Trains and their escorts.

Static defenses are a safe and efficient option to deal with all attack waves and Trains. Despite being more expensive, Khaydarin Monoliths are much more potent than Photon Cannons in dealing with Trains due to their long range and high damage per shot. The open space in between the top and bottom tracks (west of the players’ main bases) is the best spot for building Khaydarin Monoliths, as this allows them to hit Trains traveling on both tracks. Likewise, build Khaydarin Monoliths near the area where the bottom and bonus tracks intersect, where they are able to attack Trains on both tracks as well as the attack wave arriving from the southeast. Be sure to protect your Khaydarin Monoliths with Shield Batteries and Photon Cannons to shield them from invading enemy units.

If playing on Brutal, make sure to defend against Ghosts and any potential nukes by building Photon Cannons on every ramp.

Mass Immortals supported by Energizers is also a viable build on this map, having the advantage of having the highest DPS against Trains out of any of Karax’s possible builds. However, they do not deal well with air compositions. Also, you will be unlikely to have sufficient Immortals for the early Trains, hence you may have to depend on Photon Cannons or your ally until you amass a sizeable army of Immortals.

Using Solar Lance along the length of the Train will damage the Train multiple times. This can be a good way of dealing with the first Train in order to avoid investing heavily in defenses or units early on. For subsequent Trains, it is generally more efficient to use Solar Lance and Orbital Strike on the escorting units so that your Immortals or static defenses can focus on the Train.

Rifts to Korhal

The first wave arrives early on this map, hitting at approximately 2:45. As Karax, the responsibility of defending will often fall on you as it can easily be handled by a few Orbital Strikes. It can be useful to warp in a Pylon near the ramp so that the enemy units will clump up around it while targeting it.

The first Void Shard can be handled by either Sentinels or 2-3 Photon Cannons. Use either Orbital Strike or Solar Lance to clear the defending units.

Due to the large number of enemy air units and the presence of heavily fortified bases on this map, mass Carriers can be a good option to lay siege to enemy bases without taking losses. However, they lack the damage output to efficiently destroy the high-HP Void Shards thereafter, so you can delegate the clean-up job to Photon Cannons or Sentinels while your Carrier fleet moves onwards.

If you are opting for the Sentinel/Immortal/Energizer composition, you will probably need at least eight Energizers before assaulting each heavily-fortified base against Protoss or Terran. This allows you to Reclaim the numerous air units that may otherwise threaten your army.

Either Carriers or the Immortal’s Shadow Cannon ability can be used to deal with Pirate Ships. Use Stop command repeatedly to keep Interceptors out of the Pirate Ship’s linear AOE attack, while also ensuring that your Carriers do not get hit. Do not overly rely on static defenses as the Pirate Ships will destroy them easily.

If you do not intend to destroy the second Pirate Ship, you can fly your fleet of Carriers straight to the 4th set of Void Shards from the 3rd, bypassing the defending bases along the way.

Scythe of Amon

After you have fully saturated your main base, sneak a Probe into the expansion while it is still guarded by the Void Sliver and expand using 2-3 Photon Cannons and your Spear of Adun. This early expansion is made possible by using Solar Lance and 1-3 charges of Orbital Strike. Check the replay pack for more details.

The first attack wave is rather weak in strength. You can simply rely on Orbital Strike to clear it instead of having to build Photon Cannons. Alternatively, if you have sight of the Void Sliver at the expansion and/or the surrounding bases, you can use the first shot of Solar Lance on the first wave, and the subsequent 2 shots to clear the base defenders.

Unless you have significant experience with Karax, the first bonus objective is best left for your ally (support him with Orbital Strike or Solar Lance). as it is extremely difficult for Karax to ramp up his army within such a short time and clear that base on his own. It may be possible to sneak a Probe or two past the right-most shard and begin Cannon rushing the first bonus location. However, this will not be possible if the enemy composition is Protoss.

Use Purifier Beam at 7:30 in order to defeat the second enemy wave. If possible, try to have vision of the enemy bases along the path of the attack wave so that you can simultaneously take out an enemy outpost and the attack wave.Building a few Photon Cannons at both your main (above the right ramp) and natural (left of the 1st Void Sliver) allows you to defend incoming enemy waves without having to call on your army. Alternate between Solar Lance and Purifier Beam in order to take these attack waves down.

Both Mass Carrier and Zealot/Immortal/Energizer are viable options on this map. Carriers eventually allow you to snowball into a victory while Zealot/Immortal/Energizer relies on Reclamation to take control of the high number of capital ships guarding each Void Sliver.

Use Orbital Strike in order to take out dangerous units guarding the Void Slivers, including Death Grip Crystals and Void Rifts.

Temple of the Past

Static defenses work particularly well on this map, especially if you invest in the Structure Life and Shields mastery, as this map does not require Karax to push too far into heavily fortified bases.

While placing defensive structures at the top of each ramp allows you to handle attack waves with ease, the spawned Void Thrashers will be out of your reach. You can instead choose to warp in your static defenses near the Void Thrasher spawn points, indicated by a specific rock on the ground - learn to identify it to know where the Void Thrasher will spawn.

Unit-based builds can also be useful on this map, but using them may require you to know the wave spawn patterns well, as Karax’s army does not possess good mobility to move across the different lanes quickly.

It is useful to upgrade Solar Efficiency to level 2 or 3 on this map if you have the resources to spare. When facing the likes of Banelings or Immortals, always keep an eye on the attack waves approaching your static defenses or your ally’s army, and use your Spear of Adun abilities to destroy any threatening units whenever necessary.

The Vermillion Problem

As the game starts, sneak one of your starting Probes up the eastern ramp of the expansion. Use Orbital Strike to dispatch any enemy units present and then warp in a Pylon and Forge immediately. As soon as the Forge finishes, build two Photon Cannons behind the mineral line of the southern expansion, using Orbital Strike to assist as necessary.

During the early game, you need not invest in any static defenses to protect your main base. The first attack wave can be cleared with Orbital Strikes, while the second attack wave (consisting of enemy air transports) can be destroyed with a cast of Solar Lance. Spend your resources building up an army instead.

Later on in the game, warp in some Photon Cannons to defend the ramps into your bases so that they can defend repel any attack waves heading for your bases. However, do not overinvest in static defenses as you still need a standing army to push into enemy bases and for securing Xenon Crystals.

Warp in your unit production facilities on the expansion island rather than in your main base in order to allow your units to get to the action earlier.

The units defending the Xenon Crystal spawn areas are often weak in strength and clumped up together. You can use an Observer in Surveillance Mode to provide vision of the enemy, allowing you to unleash your Spear of Adun powers on them in order to claim the Xenon Crystal with a lone probe. This can be useful for a Carrier fleet if you need to claim multiple Xenon Crystals spread out across the map, as Carriers are otherwise too slow to be likely to handle multiple points of interest.

Void Launch

Warp in a few Photon Cannons at the central Warp Conduit to defend against the first and second attack waves, with the aid of a few Orbital Strikes. Place the Photon Cannons here so that they can later be useful for destroying the first wave of Shuttles.

A powerful attack wave will spawn during the first wave of Shuttles. This wave comes with a Hybrid Reaver - use your Purifier Beam to deal with it.

While setting up copious amounts of static defense at each Warp Conduit is viable, this passive way of playing hinders you from killing the defending units at the bonus areas and the enemy bases defending the Shuttle Launch Bays. Instead, try building up a standing army and focus on securing a third base in enemy territory for extra resources.

After the first wave of Shuttles, send a Probe to each of the two other Warp Conduits. If the Shuttles are at risk of escaping, warp in a few Photon Cannons to intercept them. The Shuttle escorts are often weak in strength and can be handled by your static defenses instead of your main army.

However, the attack waves that spawn every 3 minutes or so are much stronger and are best handled by either your Purifier Beam or Solar Lance.

If you are able to clear out the areas around the Shuttle Launch Bays, you can spawn-camp them with Photon Cannons and/or Khaydarin Monoliths. Shield Batteries won’t be needed here as the Shuttle escorts are warped in a few units at a time and do not pose much of a threat individually.

Void Thrashing

The first wave can easily be handled by a few Orbital Strikes. It can be useful to warp in a Pylon near the ramp so that the enemy units will clump up around it while targeting it.

The first Void Shard can be handled by either Sentinels or 2-3 Photon Cannons. Use either Orbital Strike or Solar Lance to clear out the defending units.

As this map has a short mission time, it is not worthwhile to overinvest in static defenses and Solar Efficiency upgrades (other than level 1). Instead, build up your army to give yourself a stronger assault force.

Due to the large number of enemy air units found on this map, mass Carriers can be a good option to lay siege to enemy bases without taking losses. However, they lack the DPS to efficiently destroy the high-HP Void Thrashers thereafter, so you can delegate the clean-up job to Photon Cannons while your Carrier fleet moves onwards.

If you are opting for the Sentinel/Immortal/Energizer composition, you will probably need at least 8 Energizers before assaulting the eastern and northern Void Thrasher bases when facing Protoss or Terran. This allows you to Reclaim several of the numerous air units that may otherwise threaten your army.

Replay Pack

Attached is a replay pack of the record solo speed runs for Karax on each map. These replays demonstrate how to play Karax as a general concept. In addition, we have broken down which compositions you'll be able to find on each run:

Mass Carrier is an actual comp for Karax? I'm sorry, but I don't think so. It is the most under-performing composition of his by far because of how long it takes to make anything.His carriers are too expensive to mass, they are supposed to be support and AA, nothing else.

Try this: 8 Carriers, 8 Energizers and everything else in Sentinels, courtesy of a Karax main, I guarantee it works and kicks ass, efficiently, fast, and without loses. Upgrade everything, including repair drones, the Carriers actually help repair the Sentinels.

In the Artanis guide, under synergy with Stukov, that his chrono boost can accelerate the production of his colonist compound, but in this guide it says that chrono boost does no such thing. Just wanted to point this out.

On November 14 2017 03:46 LotharAxe wrote:Mass Carrier is an actual comp for Karax? I'm sorry, but I don't think so. It is the most under-performing composition of his by far because of how long it takes to make anything.His carriers are too expensive to mass, they are supposed to be support and AA, nothing else.

Try this: 8 Carriers, 8 Energizers and everything else in Sentinels, courtesy of a Karax main, I guarantee it works and kicks ass, efficiently, fast, and without loses. Upgrade everything, including repair drones, the Carriers actually help repair the Sentinels.

I challenge you to beat any of the missions in the replay pack as efficiently with your composition as I did with mass Carriers.

On November 14 2017 03:46 LotharAxe wrote:Mass Carrier is an actual comp for Karax? I'm sorry, but I don't think so. It is the most under-performing composition of his by far because of how long it takes to make anything.His carriers are too expensive to mass, they are supposed to be support and AA, nothing else.

Try this: 8 Carriers, 8 Energizers and everything else in Sentinels, courtesy of a Karax main, I guarantee it works and kicks ass, efficiently, fast, and without loses. Upgrade everything, including repair drones, the Carriers actually help repair the Sentinels.

Carriers are in my opinion the best unit composition Karax hasby far. You just need to play very greedy, and only invest in the first solar forge upgrade. And I prefer to use chrono surge to make carriers, not upgrades or workers.

Great guide as always! The expansion where all three rocks can be cleared with orbital strikes simultaneously on Oblivion Express is the right one, not the left one. Also, Temple of the Past takes so long, you can go static defense into carriers.

On November 14 2017 06:45 pretender58 wrote:Great guide as always! The expansion where all three rocks can be cleared with orbital strikes simultaneously on Oblivion Express is the right one, not the left one. Also, Temple of the Past takes so long, you can go static defense into carriers.

On November 14 2017 06:45 pretender58 wrote:Great guide as always! The expansion where all three rocks can be cleared with orbital strikes simultaneously on Oblivion Express is the right one, not the left one. Also, Temple of the Past takes so long, you can go static defense into carriers.